Wandering Romance, Unwavering *A Lily and James Fan Fiction*

Both were from completely different worlds. One was from the world of magic and the other from the realm of muggles. But both attended the same school: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Their story is a long one that ends where it also began: Platform 9 ¾.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Harry Potter series or memorabilia. This is purely fictional. Anything that sounds familiar most likely belongs to J. K. Rowling, if not someone else.

Author Note: Okay, so I really wish that I could ignore school. I mean, seriously! Do I always have to be the one who chooses the worst time to choose the first presentation for a class? And to top it off, I decided to get a JOB to fill up even more time! Classic idiot moment of InuLoveKawaii13, my friends, classic. But unfortunately, that is not the reason this chapter was not out earlier. I have been struggling for a while now, but homework was the smallest of issues. My main issues was lack of motivation and just plain laziness and some good ol' motivation to work on Iris Petals: An Inuzuka Kiba Romance. Check it out! It is pretty good, if I may say so myself. Not as entertaining as this here's Author Note, but I may add it. I thought of doing so after I started this one, which was six chapters into Kiba's story. Anyways, I hope you all are not too mad at my unmotivated writing! Happy reading!

Chapter Two

Lily walked off of the train and looked around. It was all dark out. Excitement ran through her as she imagined the castle. In the distance, she saw a large monument, with turrets and windows lit by candlelight. A small gasp escaped her as she looked on dreamily. She giggled. I am finally here! I am finally at Hogwarts!

"All firs' yers, follow me!" Lily jumped as a booming voice echoed on the platform. "Come on, 'ow! I don' bite!" Lily hesitated before following a few other first years over to the giant man. She looked up at him hesitantly.

"Who are you?" she asked. The man looked down on her and she saw a gentle smile and friendly eyes.

"Why, hello! The name is Rubeus Hagrid. An' you?" Lily smiled.

"Lily Evans. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hagrid."

"Aw, now, just call me Hagrid. It sounds more casual. I am the Keeper of Keys and Grounds of Hogwarts. I hope ya don't plan on giving me a rou' time this year." Lily giggled.

"How could I possibly give you any trouble?"

"You shouldn't, as long as you don't try an' go into the Forbidden Forest and a few other off-limits places." Hagrid looked beyond her. "Oi! Potter and Black!" Lily turned around and looked on with disgust. The two boys she previously shared a compartment with were looking at Hagrid, stunned, probably shocked the groundkeeper knew their names.

"I have a feeling that those two will be the end of me. I sincerely hope I am not in their house," Lily mumbled. Serverus caught up to her.

"Just hope to be in Slytherin," he said, "then you will not have to deal with them – hopefully…" Both smiled before moving towards the lake, were boats awaited them.

James looked up at the giant man who addressed him and Sirius.

"Is he half-giant?" he asked quietly. Remus looked up.

"I believe so."

Sirius gave a bark. "Ha! I think he will be fun to mess around with this year, don't you?"

"I don't plan on getting into any trouble." Remus gave Sirius a look that clearly said he meant every last word of that comment. Sirius gave a cheeky grin.

"Wha' do you think you're doin'?" James looked up at the man. If not for the friendly glint in his eye, he would have thoroughly peed his pants right that moment. The man was bigger than he looked from a distance. James just blinked, however. He hadn't peed his pants since he was three years old when the house elf snuck up behind him as he stretched to grab the book his dad bought for him on his latest trip to America about dragons and Olympian gods. He still believed that poor Winnie snuck upon him on his father's orders. The man had an uncanny leaning towards mischief; his mother prayed continually that her son would not turn out like him. Their wizard neighbours held out little hope for that. Seeing who he had struck up with, he felt sorry about having to agree with his neighbours.

"We were just talking, sir." Remus sounded a bit too formal for an eleven year old who was about to get in trouble. James looked at the boy curiously.

"You're Remus Lupin, if I am na' mistaken, right?" James's eyes glinted suddenly. He spotted the red head from earlier up ahead and pushed past Remus and Sirius as well as the huge giant and towards her. When he just about reached them when he spotted the greasy haired neglected boy sitting in an empty canoe: the red head was sitting in a boat with two other girls. Snivellus seemed to have the right idea. What boy would want to ride with only three girls for company? They were weird at best – except the red head, of course. She was a little bossy, but she was as normal as can be. He didn't try to make sense of that in his head. He just stared at the boat and knew that there was no way he was going to climb in that boat, even for the red head.

He turned around just as he heard a voice he never wished to hear call out to him.

"James!" he cringed.

Lily looked behind her and saw the black haired boy from earlier freeze and stiffen. Mary called out to him a second time.

"James, are you okay? You seem a little stiff…" The boy slowly turned at his green-hazel eyes looked suspicious. Alice gasped.

"You're James Potter! See, Lily! The Quibbler actually got something right for a change. The only son of the Potter family is coming to Hogwarts this year!" Lily just concentrated on how the boy barely kept himself from running away immediately. She could almost hear the voice in his head. 'I really wish that the girl never called out to me. I should have stayed with my new friends.' The thought was practically oozing from his body.

"You're name is Lily?" James asked her, almost seeming shy. Lily just eyed him curiously and suspiciously. She remembered his mocking of Sev earlier. She was still slightly spiffed about it.

"Lily Evans. She is muggle-born. Lily, I should probably warn you that he thinks girls are weird and contain contagious diseases. He also has a prankster for a father, so he may end up in a lot of trouble due to a hereditary disease known to our block as Mischief's Curse – it is highly contagious to house elves." James glared at Mary.

"I am not a big troublemaker and I do not have some hereditary disease called Mischief's Curse. And why would I have it when my dad is the one that pulls the pranks?"

"So you are telling me that the blue hair was all the shampoo?" Mary demanded.

"I didn't mean to do that! Mum even told you so!"

"Sure…"

James was furious. Mary still blamed him for the blue hair. He swore up and down to his mum that he didn't mean to turn the girl's hair blue – she had destroyed his favorite book and he was upset about it. How was he supposed to know that being angry turned a person's hair blue? James turned around and fell into the water under the boats: Sirius Black stood less than an inch behind him. He sputtered as Hagrid walked over and picked him up by his shirt collar, plopping the black haired boy into the boat with the three girls. Still spitting up water, James tried to object, but the boat moved forward to allow new students to get into the empty boats easily. Sirius gave a barking laugh before climbing into a boat along with Remus and Peter. They were with Snivellus and the two black haired boys did not look pleased. They probably should not be in the same room together… The boat the four boys occupied tipped over. Scratch that. They should not be within a mile of each other, though I wouldn't want to be within a mile of his greasy hair either. I am cringing right now just from being this close to him.

James slowly turned around to look at the girls in the boat with him. Other than Mary, he had no idea who the other two were. He barely remembered who Mary was and having just learned Lily's name, he very well couldn't just claim he knew her.

"You turned a girl's hair blue?" James looked at the girl with mousy brown hair as she spoke. He merely squinted suspiciously.

"Her name is Janice, blockhead. She is also a half-blood," Mary commented. James looked at Mary and blinked before speaking.

"And I care about blood status because…?" he asked and Mary giggled.

"James, ev—" She was cut off by a shriek followed by continuous babbling about myth and fairytale. James stared at the red-head with a look of clear concern.

"It's just a castle." The red head turned and gave James the glare he knew would eventually kill him. Oh, Merlin. She is scarier than the dog down the street.

"That is not just a castle, you blockhead!" James scowled and glared now. That is the second time in a matter of less than five minutes that he was called "blockhead."

"Now you listen here! I am not a blockhead. My name is James!" The girl ignored him, however.

"I have been practically dying to see that castle for the past two years, ever since Sev told me about witches and wizards and a special school for people like us. So this is not just some castle! This is a place that I will make something of myself in!" When she finished her monologue, all three of the people in the boat looked at her curiously.

"Really, Lily, James may have been a bit out of line in saying that, but I don't think he deserved that much of a lecture." Lily was prevented from responding as the group had reached the cavern underground. Lily looked around, clearly impressed by the display shown of the castle. James himself was pretty excited about the cave, though for entirely different reasons: he was a boy after all.

Lily looked around excitedly. Mary had made a good point earlier, but she wasn't going to let her know that. James could not have known about her excitement. But Lily knew all about what was going on in his brain when he saw this cavern. Anyone would have. That boy is going to get himself in trouble the first day. Why do they take us to a place that would mean certain death for any boy's control? I wonder how late he will be out of bed today once he figures out the password? Lily's thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of witch who appeared in her late thirties. She looked at everyone her tight bun glistening in the candlelight, throwing white-yellow beams onto the pitch black hair that was cliché of the witch stereotype.

"Good evening." The woman said the salutation in a voice that spoke of experience. Lily gave a small gulp, as did James. She sent a glance to him and saw fear in his eyes. This woman terrified him. A laugh caused them both to jump and they fell in the lake. When they surfaced, they noticed everyone looking at the black haired boy James had been hanging out with earlier. Lily turned to glare at James, but found him looking resignedly at the boy who was laughing.

"Ha! You look like my mum!" He continued to laugh.

"I wouldn't be laughing if she was my mum…" Lily glanced over at James again, and everyone turned to look at him, including the woman Lily assumed was a teacher.

"A smart thought, Mr. Potter. Mr. Black, I would like to think that unlike every single one of your family members, with the exception of Andromeda, you would do well not to laugh at the sight of authority. I do not like to think you would prefer to gain a detention on the first night of school. Mr. Potter, please be so kind as to help the young lady next to you out of the water." James got out of the water and offered Lily his hand. Begrudgingly, Lily took it and ended up taking both of his hands, eventually getting out of the water after a moment or two. A cough or two later, Lily looked at James and gave a small, begrudging smile and noticed him just looking at her. Looking around, she noticed that she and James were the only ones in the small cavern aside from the teacher and Hagrid, who was cheerfully conversing with the woman. She glanced at the boy again.

"What are you looking at?" she yelled, causing him to jump and the two adults to look at them as the statement continued to echo.

James looked away, choosing the ground finally, embarrassed. All he was doing was watching her examine her surroundings. A crunching of gravel caused him to look up, the teacher looked at him softly as she walked over to him. The girl already scrambled inside.

"It would do well not to stare at people, Mr. Potter." The woman pushed him into the building gently, shutting the door behind him.

"Sorry, Professor McGonagall. Didn' mean to take so long." Professor McGonagall nodded to him and motioned for Lily to come over, drying them instantly with a non-verbal spell, the kind his mum did all the time. James looked at her with excitement in his eyes as he felt heat permeate his clothes and dry him completely. Mum would be peeved if she saw my hair right now. She always did curse my hair.

"Goodness, why is your hair so messy?" James looked over at Lily, away from the teacher he admired and at the girl he didn't know he offended earlier nor how he did so. He just blinked. I have a feeling she holds similar sentiments.

"Follow me." McGonagall spoke to the whole group and they followed numbly. James noted that Lily skipped over to the greasy boy she was speaking to earlier. He hurried to join Sirius, who stood with Remus and Pepper.

"Why do you keep disappearing? First outside and then when we first walk into the building." James glared at Sirius. Remus took note of the look and explained for Sirius what he seemed incapable to figuring out.

"Sirius, if you hadn't barked a million times then James – James, right?" James nodded, "then James would not have disappeared in the first place."

"I didn't bark," he said.

"You laughed, sending me into the water, fish-brain!" James said.

"Fish-brain!" Sirius shouted, offended, and Professor McGonagall looked over at Sirius.

"Mr. Black, you would do well to use your inside voice, for even in this room, you can be heard in the Great Hall." Sirius opened and closed his mouth, not helping to fight the accusation of his brain power asserted by James. James and Remus snickered as he was set into silence by the teacher. She spoke again.

"Welcome to Howarts," she said in a welcoming tone, the exact opposite of the tone used to reprimand "Mr. Black" with. "The start of term feast is about to begin, as is your sorting. Your Sorting is very important, as it determines almost who you will be for the rest of your Hogwarts career. The people in your house will be your family while at school. You will have classes with your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend your free time in your house common room." Lily glanced over at the group of boys, one looking rather like a fish, two (including James) muffling snickers at "Mr. Black", and one looking clueless, trying to figure out the joke. If they are my house-mates…

"The four houses are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin." She heard a few gags throughout the crowd of first years, including James'. Professor McGonagall ignored them all and ploughed on through her spiel, obviously spoken many times before. "Each house has its own noble history and produced outstanding wizards and witches. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points and rule-breaking and mischief will lose points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points will earn the House Cup, an honour. Last year, Hufflepuff won the House Cup. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house you grace."

Looking over again at the boys, Lily knew she was doomed if she had them in her house. Before she could ponder anything, however, Professor McGonagall spoke again.

"The Sorting Ceremony shall begin shortly. I would suggest smartening up before walking into the Great Hall. I will be back when Professor Dumbledore is ready for you." With that, she left. Lily turned instantly to Severus.

"Ooo! I can't wait Sev! What do they do in the sorting?" Lily asked eagerly. Severus looked at Lily and smiled.

"What do you think I am? Psychic? I don't know what they do. Mum never told me. I think even everyone else here doesn't know."

"Why did you call me fish-brain?" Lily looked over at the source of the loud voice and saw James and a sandy-haired boy snickering. "I mean, dog-brain, even squid-brain, would have been fine. But fish-brain? Really?"

"I couldn't think of any other animal that was stupid." James said through his snickering and both him and the sandy-haired boy howled with laughter.

"Hamsters! Rodents! They are stupid!" James howled louder. "Remus! Tell him!" The sandy-haired boy smiled wolfishly, his eyes alight with laughter as he spoke.

"Sorry, but that would be a disgrace to mice. Unfortunately, James hit it dead on. Fish are by far the stupidest. They have a memory of three seconds." Remus and James continued to laugh until Professor McGonagall came in again.

"We are ready for you. Follow me!" Everyone looked over at the teacher and followed numbly as she led them out of the small chamber and into the entrance hall, crossing the hall and entering the Great Hall. Lily muffled a gasp as she looked around the room and instantly feel in love. Looking at the ceiling, she gave a misty eyed look, not noticing that she somehow became a part of the line, behind Severus and in front of James. She also didn't notice that James was staring at her.

"Wow," she mumbled softly. Looking forward, she admired the candles and the long wooden tables, worn beautifully with age. The table in front of the four house tables made Lily stop in her mystified gaze around the room. She saw several teachers, with a seat next to the largest empty. The centre chair, also the largest, was the seat of a man who was rather old, but also very, very wise. She could just tell that he was not as bumbling as he looked. The twinkle in his eye told Lily that he preferred to look mischievous and loved pranks and mischief even more.

She glanced at James, who she realized was behind her for the first time and just knew that he and the old man would get along very well.

"That's Dumbledore," he said, calmly as he gave a small smile. She glanced away and harrumphed before turning around and watching the table as the group stopped. Hogwarts is going to be amazing.

Just some notes: I thought something was really funny earlier and worth mentioning here, but then I forgot it, having gone to work and does chores around the house, being the minor that she is being forced to comply to the everyday whims of her parents. Go InuLoveKawaii13 (as she almost puts her real name down). And her knee is seriously dying.

On the subject of said bad knee, I seriously cannot wait to get it checked out. I told my mom I want to get it checked out this week, since I am tired of the random spasms it has with twinging pain. {Note as of many weeks later: have yet to get said knee checked out...dumb mom.}

Hours later (really just moments, but bleh): [1] initial comment still allusive though this may be part of it, I myself find it rather amusing that though James and Sirius hit it off immedately as friends, James, even now, wants to strangle the guy for unwittingly dunking the eleven year old in the lake two times. [2]We get a snid bit of stubborn Lily! I really like to think that Lily at least partially forced herself to hate James. No one goes from total hate to total love in an instant and that is something Lily seemingly does in a matter of days in most of the fics I have read. [3] I like the fact that I managed to stump Sirius. I like that I gave Remus some mischief. I plan on giving him a lot of mischief, actually. A lot of people think of him as this innocent little goody-too-shoes and I like to think that he was a major contributor to the pranking execution, if not the brainstorming (of which I give the credit mostly to James and Sirius). [4] James Potter, a gentleman. I like the picture. A gentleman seems more likely, as I plan on making his mom very kick-butt and terrifying to him, hence the comment James make about not laughing at McGonagall if she looked like his mom.